Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Why would you want a case to go to binding arbitration? Most consumers would rather have a jury trial, depending of course on the type of case and the amount of money involved. I would ask the attorney who is handing your case.

If both sides agree to arbitrate, the case can be submitted to arbitration, and the trial date can be continued.

Mr. Roach is correct, if there is not a pre-existing agreement to arbitrate, the parties can agree at any time. Every court I know of is happy to grant a continuance to allow binding arbitration so the court's resources can be used for other cases. If you are talking about enforcing a prior arbitration agreement, it gets murkier. There is a strong public policy for enforcing arbitration clauses and agreements. On the other hand, proceeding too far down the path of court litigation and then trying to invoke an arbitration clause, will lead to arguments that you waived the right to compel arbitration.